christopher price

Brady Tests Shoulder At Practice

FOXBOROUGH -- They weren’t a bunch of lasers, but Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw a series of easy passes during the start of practice yesterday, four days after his right shoulder was squashed under the weight of Washington’s 350-pound defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

Brady appeared to suffer no ill effects from the hit that came late in the first half of last Friday’s preseason win over the Redskins. The quarterback told WEEI’s “Dennis & Callahan” on Monday he was “expecting” to play in the regular-season opener, and in an interview with ESPN’s Chris Berman on Tuesday, he was asked if it was “all systems go for the shoulder.”

“You can throw?” asked Berman.

“Yeah. I’ve been doing that yesterday, and we’ll be doing that over the course of the next couple weeks. I’m feeling really good. I’m feeling real positive about where our team's at. I’ve had a good preseason,” said Brady, who is 26-for-42 for 307 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in three preseason games. “I’ve had a lot of good practices.

“You just shake it off, kind of identify what it is, and you move forward. It’s been a good couple of days here with getting back to feeling normal, getting back out to practice. Now, it’s just about getting ready for this Thursday’s game, and then, on to the real season.”

After the hit on Friday, which took place on an incomplete third-down pass attempt late in the second quarter, Brady came to the sidelines and continued to rotate his arm. He went to the bench, where he stretched his arm repeatedly as the half came to a close, and again after returning from the locker room after halftime. He did not return to the game.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick later said that Brady would have come out of the game regardless of what happened.

“I’m saying that we made the decision to play other quarterbacks in the second half of the Washington game because we wanted to see them play,” Belichick said. “That will be the same situation going forward into the Giants game.

“Tom had a desire to play, but we made a football decision to play other players because I think we need to see them at that position, and make an evaluation there.”

Tuesday afternoon was the first chance the media had to see Brady attempt a pass since Friday -- reporters are only allowed to view the first few minutes of Patriots practice, and the quarterback did not attempt a pass in practice when the media was present on Monday. But that wasn’t the case Tuesday. With the media looking on, Brady appeared fluid. The passes took place during a low-intensity drill, but the quarterback certainly did not appear any worse for wear. He attempted passes of 10 and 25 yards, some of them in a play-action format and some across his body.

While Brady appeared sharp Tuesday, it’s not likely he will play in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Giants. Traditionally, Belichick has held his starters out of the fourth preseason game, preferring to get an extended look at his reserves before the final cuts are made on Saturday.

The Patriots will likely give a long look to backup quarterbacks Andrew Walter and Brian Hoyer, both of whom will likely play extended minutes in the wake of the release of Kevin O’Connell. O’Connell, who started training camp as the acknowledged No. 2 quarterback to Brady, was released on Monday.

At this point, Walter appears to be the leader in the clubhouse for the backup job, despite the fact he’s just 5-for-9 for 62 yards in limited action over the course of the preseason. He has experience as a starter in the NFL -- he started 15 games in four seasons with Oakland -- while Hoyer is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Michigan State.

“We want to give him a fair opportunity to pick things up. He's improved in a lot of areas,” Belichick said of Walter, who was signed by the Patriots on Aug. 4. “There are some things that we’ve asked him to do that he hasn't had a chance to do yet or he’s only had a chance to do them one or two times.”

Belichick would not rule out possibly making a deal for a veteran backup.

“Am I saying there’s going to be no more player movement? No, I’m not saying that,” Belichick said. “Could something happen at any position? Yeah, it could.”

Greg and Chris talk with Mike Reiss from ESPN Boston in hour 2 of NFL Sunday to discuss a variety of offseason happenings with the Pats and throughout the league. Greg and Chris also get into the NFL Draft and where Mariota and Winston will go.

Mike Reiss calls the guys to talk about the offseason news for the Pats. He talks about the Pats/Jets tampoering fiasco, free agency, where he sees Ridley and Connolly ending up, if the Patriots would be interested in Reggie Wayne and more.

In the first hour of the show, Greg and Chris discuss the news coming out of the owners' meetings this week and rule changes. Belichick's blow-up over the league not wanting to spend on endzone cameras was well documented and the guys react. They also talk about the Jets ridiculous tampering charges, free agents still lingering out there, where Stevan Ridley will land and the RB position in New England. Dickerson and Price briefly discuss the adventures of Tom Brady before being joined by WEEI.com's Mike Petraglia to talk all things Pats in the offseason.

Flannery joins Mut to break down the Isaiah Thomas trade to Boston and what it means for the Celtics this season and in the future. Paul also chats with Mut about the other deals that happened at the NBA's trading deadline

Mut, Tomase, and Bradford kick things off talking about Shane Victorino taking offense to people reading into some comments he made about trading for Cole Hamels. They also discuss Blake Swihart and how soon he could be up if Christian Vazquez starts the season on the DL.

Joe Kelly joined the Hot Stove show where he talked about being ready for his next spring training start after a biceps ailment forced him out of his last outing, he talks about his NCAA brackets and how teammate Wade Miley has a perfect bracket still.

Peter Chiarelli joined the Sunday Skate crew to talk about the Bruins playoff push heading into the final handful of games of the regular season. Chiarelli talked about avoiding some of the overly negative feedback he gets while realizing that the team does have real issues. He discusses what went down at the trade deadline and if he was happy with the outcome, Lucic having a down year and underperforming, the salary cap and if he considers it as big of an issue as it's been made out to be and what the future holds for the team.

It's a big hour #2 for the Sunday Skate dudes - they talk about the B's defenseman and what the future looks like at that position, with both moves the team can make and younger guys in the AHL. They also get into the Bruins philosophy on bringing guys up and sending them back down and how players deal with that. Finally, the boys are joined by Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli to discuss EVERYTHING.

The Sunday Skate crew gets the show going discussing the Bruins big, impressive victory over the NY Rangers yesterday. What can you take from that game? According to LB - Lyndon Byers - who called the guys from the road, not a lot. LB drops a dime on what was going on with the Rangers yesterday. DJ and Joe discuss Claude's lines and groupings and the importance of Ryan Spooner. They also get into Lucic, his contributions this year and if he can turn things around.

With the Wells report seemingly wrapping up (we hope), Tim and Lou got to talking about possible fines and punishments the Patriots must face. It's possible that the Patriots will face a small fine, but should they take that laying down? The conversation brings out a little passion from BOTH sides.